1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary connector for electrically connecting a pair of housings relatively rotatably coupled each other by a flexible cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotary connector roughly comprises a pair of housings relatively rotatably coupled each other and a flexible cable wound at the inside of an annular storage space partitioned by the both housings, and the flexible cable is extended outward while the both ends of the flexible cable are secured to the both housings respectively and a connector terminal is provided for the outward-extended end of the cable. One of the both housings is used as a movable-side housing and the other of them is used as a fixed-side housing. When rotating the movable-side housing in the normal or reverse direction, the flexible cable is tightly wound or rewound at the inside of the storage space.
In the case of the roughly-constituted rotary connector, the fixed-side housing is secured to a combination switch which is a stator member of a steering system and the movable-side housing is connected to a steering wheel which is a rotor member of the steering system so that the movable-side housing rotates by interlocking with rotation of the steering wheel. In this case, an external connector is provided for the combination switch and the steering wheel respectively. By connecting these external connectors with the connector terminals provided for the both ends of the flexible cable, an air-bag inflator and a horn switch mounted on the steering wheel are connected to the combination switch side through the rotary connector.
A request for setting various switches to a steering system has been raised in recent years. For example, a steering system with a cruise control switch or audio switch mounted on the steering wheel side and a steering system with a hazard parking switch or seat positioning switch mounted on the combination switch side are proposed. However, because the space around a steering system is not very large, an external connector at the steering wheel side is increased in size as the number of switches mounted on the steering wheel side increases or a rotary-connector setting space is greatly decreased as the number of switches mounted on the combination switch side. In any case, there is a problem that the operability for setting a rotary connector to a steering system is deteriorated.